Arabhi

Arabhi or Aarabhi (pronounced ārabhi) is a ragam (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a Janya raga (derived scale), whose Melakarta raga (parent scale, also known as janaka) is Shankarabharanam, 29th in the 72 Melakarta raga system. It is a combination of the pentatonic scale Shuddha Saveri (or Durga in Hindustani Music) and the sampurna raga scale Shankarabharanam.

Arabhi

Arohanam	S R₂ M₁ P D₂ Ṡ
Avarohanam	Ṡ N₃ D₂ P M₁ G₃ R₂ S

Arabhi is a raga that dates back to 7 AD. Originally, it was called as pazhanthakkam in Ancient Tamil music^{[citation needed]}. A very auspicious ragam that emanates Veera rasa (valour), Arabhi is one of the five Ghana ragams that shine with special brilliance when Thanam is played on Veena.^[1]

Structure and Lakshana

Ascending scale with Shadjam at C

Descending scale with Shadjam at C

Its ārohaṇa-avarohaṇa structure (ascending and descending scale) is as follows (see swaras in Carnatic music for details on below notation and terms):

• ārohaṇa : S R₂ M₁ P D₂ Ṡ^[a]
• avarohaṇa : Ṡ N₃ D₂ P M₁ G₃ R₂ S^[b]

Arabhi raga is an Owdava-sampoorna raga meaning, 5 swaras occur in the arohana (so it is called Owdava) and in avarohana all swaras occur (so sampoorna).

It is a raga without much gamakas and frequency variations, relying instead on flat notes. The important point is the swara "ga" always comes very close to "ma" so when we sing the phrase "ma ga ri" it sounds like "ma ma ri". Likewise the swara "ni" always comes very close to the swara "sa" hence when we sing the phrase "sa ni da" it sounds like "sa sa da".^{[citation needed]}

The closest raga to this one is Devagandhari. There are few aspects which make Arabhi different (though both share the same ascending and desce

1. In Arabhi the swara "ga" is close to "ma" but in Devagandhari it is not the same.
2. The swara "ri" is not fluctuated in Arabhi but it is given "asaivu" in Devagandhari
3. The phrase "pa ma da sa" should not be sung in Arabhi, as it is exclusive for Devagandhari
4. Devagandhari is sung with gamakas and vilambita kala prayogas (usages with elongated notes)^[2]
5. Devagandhari is sung with deergha gandharam (elongated G3)^[2]

Arabhi raga is a very energetic and it lends itself to creativity in brigas (fast-paced swara usages) more than gamakas.

Popular Compositions

The 3rd of Pancharatna Kritis (five gems of compositions), Sadhinchanae(also known as "Samayaniki Tagu Mataladene") by Saint Thyagaraja is a famous composition set in Arabhi raga. Here we can note that Thyagaraja uses phrases like "sa sa da" in the charanam although there are phrases like "sa ni da" also.

Here are some more compositions set to Arabhi.

Type	Composition	Composer	Talam
Geetam	Rere Sree Ramachandra	Paidala Gurumurti Sastri	Adi
Varnam	Sarasija Mukhiro	Pallavi Doraiswamy Iyer	Adi
Varnam	Annamae Aravaa	Tiger Varadachariar	Adi
Varnam	Amba Gauri	Gowri Rukmini Bayi(Rukminibhai Tamburatti)	Tisra Triputa
Varnam	Valachiyunna	Veena Kuppayyar	Khanda Ata
Kriti	Adidano Ranga (2nd Navaratna Malike)	Purandara Dasa	Adi
Kriti	Lalisidalu Magana	Purandara Dasa	Adi
Kriti	Dangurava Sari	Purandara Dasa	Adi
Kriti	Gubbiyalo Gubbiyalo	Vadiraja Tirtha	Adi
Kriti	Neela Lohita Damaruga	Jagannatha Dasa	Adi
Kriti	Mantralayadolu Rajipa	Kamalesha Vittala Dasu	Adi
Kriti	Dachuko Nee Padalaku	Annamacharya	Adi
Kriti	Saadinchane O Manasa (3rd Pancharatnam)	Thyagaraja	Adi
Kriti	Chaala kallalaadu	Thyagaraja	Adi
Kriti	O Rajeevaksha	Thyagaraja	Misra Chapu
Kriti	Joothamurare	Thyagaraja	Rupakam
Kriti	Nada sudha rasam	Thyagaraja	Rupakam
Kriti	Patiki Mangala	Thyagaraja	Adi
Kriti	Na Moralanu Vini	Thyagaraja	Adi
Kriti	Sundari Ninnu Varnimpa	Thyagaraja	Misra Chapu
Kriti	Pranavakaram Siddhi Vinayakam	Ootukadu Venkata Kavi	Adi
Kriti	Sakala Loka Nayike Twam Eva Sharanam	Ootukadu Venkata Kavi	Adi
Kriti	Maragatha Manimaya	Ootukadu Venkata Kavi	Adi
Kriti	Ganarajena rakshitoham	Muthuswamy Dikshitar	Misra Chapu
Kriti	Shri Saraswati namostute	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Rupakam
Kriti	Shwetaranyeshwaram	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Adi
Kriti	Akilandeswarayai Namaste	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Adi
Kriti	Adipurishwaram	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Adi
Kriti	Marakoti koti lavanya	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Jhampa
Kriti	Gowrishaya Namaste	Muthuswami Dikshitar	Triputa
Kriti	Palayashumam Paradevate	Syama Sastri	Triputa
Kriti	Paahi Parvata Nandini (Navarathri krithi-9th day)	Swathi Thirunal	Adi
Kriti	Vande Maheshwaram	Swathi Thirunal	Misra Chapu
Kriti	Narasimha Mamava	Swathi Thirunal	Khanda Chapu
Kriti	Shri Ramana Vibho	Swathi Thirunal	Adi
Kriti	Padmanabha Pahi Padma Vilochana	Swathi Thirunal	Adi
Kriti	Madhu Kaitabha	Muthiah Bhagavathar	Adi
Kriti	Rave Puruhutikamba	Maddirala Venkataraya Kavi	Misra Chapu
Kriti	Maravanu ne Ninnu	G. N. Balasubramaniam	Rupakam
Kriti	Durga Lakshmi Saraswati	Papanasam Sivan	Adi
Kriti	Ayyappanai Panivom	Papanasam Sivan	Adi
Kriti	Nilakantha Nityananda	Nilakanta Sivan	Adi
Kriti	Sri Sakala Ganadhipa(same tune as Sri Ramana Vibho by Swathi Thirunal)	Dr M. Balamuralikrishna	Adi
Kriti	Mahadeva Sutam	Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna	Adi
Kriti	Maha Balavanta Shri Hanumanta	Kalyani Varadarajan	Adi

Film Songs

Language:Tamil

Song	Movie	Composer	Singer
Indru Namathullame Pongum	Thanga Padhumai	Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy	T. M. Soundararajan, Jikki
Brindavanamum Nandakumaranum (shades of Devagandhari with the explicit Gandharam)	Missiamma	S. Rajeswara Rao	A. M. Rajah, P. Susheela
Yeri Karaiyin Mele	Mudhalali	K. V. Mahadevan	T. M. Soundararajan
Kaviri Paayum (Pallavi, anupallavi only)	Maragatham	S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
Kanni Paruvam Aval	Indira En Selvam	C. N. Pandurangan & H.R.Padmanabha Shastri	P. B. Sreenivas, Soolamgalam Rajalakshmi
Thendralil Aadidum	Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan	M. S. Viswanathan	K. J. Yesudas, Vani Jairam
Meenakshi Kalyanam(Ragamalika)	Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal
Manthaara Malare	Naan Avanillai		P. Jayachandran, L. R. Eswari
Santhakavigal	Metti	Ilaiyaraaja	Brahmanandam
Aasai Kiliye	Thambikku Entha Ooru		Malaysia Vasudevan
Madhurai Vaazhum	Pudhupatti Ponnuthayi		Unni Menon, S. Janaki
Mannavane Mannavane	Thanthu Vitten Ennai		S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
Sandhanam Ennum	Aatam Paatam Kondaatam	Gangai Amaran	Mano, Deepan Chakravarthy
Kaalai Arumbi	Kana Kandaen	Vidyasagar	Srinivas, Kalyani Nair
Vidiya Vidiya	Samudhiram	Sabesh–Murali	Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam
Rayilin Pathayil	Appavi	Joshua Sridhar	Hariharan, Shreya Ghoshal

Title Song

Song	Tv Serial	Composer	Singer
Aadugiran Kannan	Adugiran Kannan	C. Sathya	Srinivas

Language: Malayalam

Song	Movie	Composer	Singers
Navakabhishekam Kazhinju	Guruvayur Kesavan	G. Devarajan	K J Yesudas
Tiruvona Pularithan
Shreekovil Nadathurannu

Language: Telugu

Song	Movie	Composer	Singers
Hey Parvathi natha[3]	Sita Rama Kalyanam (1961 film)	Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao	Ghantasala (musician)
Tapamu Phalinchina Shubhavela	Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu	Pendyala (composer)	Ghantasala (musician)
Sri Kamini Kamitakara	Panduranga Mahatyam	T. V. Raju	Ghantasala (musician)
Brindavanamadi Andaridi Govindudu Andari vadele(Confluence of Devagandhari present)[4]	Missamma	S. Rajeswara Rao	A. M. Rajah & P. Susheela

Notes

1. Alternate notations:

   • Hindustani: S R M P D Ṡ
   • Western: C D F G A C
2. Alternate notations:

   • Hindustani: Ṡ N D P M G R S
   • Western: C B A G F E D C